Day 5

My camera chose a great night to die! Ha, oh well. I worked Oakley twice today. I am probably going to develop a routine of morning under saddle work and evening ground work. Both are equally important and since I feel so pressured for time I need to work on them together in order to stay sane. This morning I saddled her up again. It took longer this time because I will not have a horse who does not stand for saddling. Even 2 steps backwards is too much, so I moved her feet more each time she decided to step away or back. She figured out that she has to keep her feet planted when I saddle her. We'll see if the lesson sticks tomorrow. Once she was saddled I sent her around at the trot. She still does not care about the saddle on her back. I decided to see what she'd do if I put a foot in the stirrup and stepped up. She was pretty good. The first few times my weight unbalanced her and she had to move her feet to regain balance. I hung on up there until she came to a stop and then stepped down. I did this on both sides until she could stand still while I stepped up and down. The saddle I used was also slipping and it was cinched tight, so tomorrow I'm going to try a different saddle. I don't need her back to be out of whack before I even get a chance to ride her.

I was good with that and put her in her stall so she could enjoy her breakfast. I gave her more grain. It was still there when I returned to work her in the afternoon. Tonight I worked on leading and some more desensitizing to the flag. She needs to find the happy medium between being dull and over reacting. Sometimes the flag isn't a problem, other times she's at the end of my rope before I can blink. It really makes me think about my body language though. Am I asking her to move that way? What about me is causing her to respond one way vs another? The leading practice was the same deal. She was either dragging or rushing past me. We had a good discussion about that and what should happen when she moves past my shoulder and hits the end of my rope. By the end of the night she was right at my shoulder where I wanted her to be. Again, I will see if that sticks tomorrow! I worked again on her feet and held them for a longer amount of time. She still does not relax completely, but she is trying. Oh! I almost forgot! I got the clippers out as well. I shaved her brand. She did okay but she wanted to shake her head. She wasn't fearful, just annoyed. I am okay with that. It was so warm out that I washed her tail too. I didn't use a hose, just a bucket with water and shampoo. She stood pretty good for that. She ended up rolling in the sand though. All my hard work on that tail... ruined. Ha.

Sorry for such a boring post with no photos. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have more to share. I'll have to pick up some batteries though. I got a nice email from a reader today. It sure is nice to have fans :-) The schedule for the Extreme Mustang Makeover at the Horse Fair is not set in stone yet, but I have heard that the competition will start at 8a.m. on Friday and Saturday and then the finals and adoption will both be on Sunday afternoon. Okay... I am off to do some paintings to try and sell so that I don't starve. Horseman by day... artist by night. Thanks for reading!